Montana
Montana State Invitational
Griz not yet able to run with region's best
9/21/2013 12:00:00 AM | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country, Cross Country
Sept. 21, 2013
The Montana cross country teams, in their first year under new coaches, finished fourth in the women's three-mile race and fifth in the men's five-mile race Saturday at the Bozeman Running Company Montana State Open at the Bridger Creek Golf Course in Bozeman.
The Grizzlies were trying to surprise the top teams in the region, but their breakthrough races will have to wait for another day. Neither team had an individual finish in the top 10.
The Griz women, who are not ranked in the Mountain Region, placed three individuals in the top 20 and defeated No. 10 Utah Valley and No. 12 Idaho State while competing without their top runner, redshirt junior Keli Dennehy.
Freshman Reagan Colyer was Montana's top runner, covering the course in a time of 17:59. Junior Carly Wilczynski (18:06) was 16th, and junior Heather Fraley (18:08) was 19th.
Utah State, ranked 11th in the region, won the team title with 44 points. Montana State (60) came in second, No. 9 Utah (77) third and Montana (109) fourth.
Montana State's Heather Demorest won the race in a time of 17:16.
Redshirt sophomore Mark Messmer led the UM men's team with a time of 26:08, a 13-second improvement upon his time on the same course last fall.
Redshirt freshman Adam Wollant (26:34) was 26th, freshman Paden Alexander (26:41) was 29th.
Montana State, which is ranked 13th in the region, won the team title by upsetting No. 12 Utah State and No. 8 Utah Valley. The Bobcats placed four in the top six overall and won with a team score of 32 points. Utah State totaled 35, Utah Valley 72.
Montana totaled 136 points to come in behind fourth-place Eastern Washington, which scored 92.
Montana State's Cristian Santos (25:09) and Trevor Polson (25:15) gave the Bobcats a 1-2 finish.
The Grizzlies will host the Montana Invitational on Friday morning, Oct. 4, at the UM Golf Course.
Players Mentioned
